Even before his escape from the Warren County Jail late Thursday night, there were already comparisons being made between Michael Burham and Ralph Phillips. Phillips, who had law-enforcement on a notorious manhunt for five months, left a trail of theft, death and destruction from Western New York, the Southern Tier and ending in Warren County, Pa., where he finally surrendered in September 2006.

Burham’s escape is just as eerie and worrisome for residents in the region. Using bed sheets tied together, Burham was able to make his escape from the Warren County Jail.

By all accounts, he is dangerous and is on a deadly mission. Already, he is being tied to the May 11 shooting death of 34-year-old Kala Hodgkin inside her William Street home in Jamestown. After fleeing to Pennsylvania, a week later he kidnapped an elderly Sheffield couple at gunpoint and drove to South Carolina. Once he dropped them off at a cemetery, he was caught 50 miles away on May 24 in Hunger, S.C.

Phillips’ travels were mainly confined to New York state. His flight to freedom began by using a can opener and cutting through a kitchen ceiling that allowed him to escape an Erie County prison in Alden on April 2, 2006. At the time, he was on work detail.

Once on the lam, the search ensued. It was painstaking, frustrating and exhausting.

Phillips, the then 43-year-old Stockton man, would be linked to the shooting of three New York state troopers, one of whom died of his injuries. In some segments, the long-haired, 240-pound fugitive, who was seen by some as a folk hero and the inspiration of such things as the “Bucky Burger,” became Public Enemy No. 1. But the day before he was captured, the FBI listed him as the 483rd fugitive on its Ten Most Wanted List.

Charged with aggravated murder and attempted aggravated murder, Phillips is serving a life sentence at Mid-State Correctional Facility in Marcy, N.Y.

Phillips, who was well-known for stealing vehicles and breaking into homes and cabins, was said to be spotted in various parts of the region during the search, including Sinclairville, Stockton, Randolph, Great Valley and Bradford, Pa.

In a 2006 interview, Maj. Michael T. Manning, commander of the State Police Troop A in Western New York, said Phillips was likely being helped by members of the community.

“He has a very large base of individuals throughout the Western New York area, friends and family, loved ones,” Manning said. “His criminal background gives him a lot of contact with a lot of people who have served time in prison with him, so it is possible he is being assisted by (those) individuals.”

In the early morning of June 10, however, then 30-year-old Trooper Sean Brown was shot in the abdomen after pulling over a suspicious Ford Mustang on Route 13 near Horseheads. Brown was treated for his injury and later released from the hospital.

Phillips was named a “person-of-interest” in connection to the shooting and alleged to have stolen the Mustang shortly before the incident. A $25,000 reward was offered by the State Police for information leading to his capture.

Over the next few weeks, Phillips was reportedly spotted in other parts of the state and blamed for a slew of burglaries, including the theft of weapons and a Dodge Caravan in Hancock.

In July, the State Police doubled their reward to $50,000 as more burglaries were reported in Cattaraugus County. In August, Phillips was spotted near the Tuscarora Indian Reservation, shifting the manhunt to Niagara County. Police would return to Chautauqua County after Phillips was spotted on a motorcycle on Route 60 outside Cassadaga.

On Aug. 31, two state troopers — Donald Baker Jr., 38, and Joseph Longobardo, 32 — were shot by Phillips outside a Pomfret home in a sniper-like fashion. Two residents of the home were reportedly being questioned by police for harboring Phillips. Longobardo died a few days after the shooting.

A reward for Phillips rose to $225,000 and later to nearly half a million dollars as state troopers amplified their search.

The manhunt came to an end on Sept. 8, when Phillips surrendered to police after Pennsylvania law enforcement officials cornered him in Warren County, Pa.

Phillips admitted to shooting all three state troopers.

That December, he was sentenced in Chautauqua County Court to life without parole for the shootings in Pomfret. He was later sentenced in Chemung County Court to 40 years to life for the shooting of trooper Brown.

To this date, the five-month search of Phillips is believed to be one of the most expensive manhunts in New York state history. It may have topped the $23 million spent to locate two escaped killers from the fomer Clinton Correctional Facility in 2015 over 23 days.

New York State Police, despite numerous Freedom of Information Law requests from the OBSERVER in Dunkirk, never revealed the final price tag. Over five months, based on the 2015 figure, that number could have exceeded $45 million.